Three Wishes
by mickyyoung
Summary: "We're just good friends." Sakura would normally answer when asked. Nothing more, nothing less. For her, as long as they are both comfortable with each other's company, probably the relationship label would not even matter. DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. :) *Re-publishing my work 'Three Wishes' that started back in July 2014.


_Silence._

The only thing you could hear walking through the deserted streets of the once known district inside the village, for a once known clan- the _Uchiha_.

The proud clan that was part of the shinobi world once, the kinfolk that gloriously vanquish every foe with the dignified _sharingan_ they held.

It is a shame that when ambition and resolve within them clashed- it all ended there. Yet, the family name lives on with honor, all because of a pacifist that carries the egotistical desire of his kindred by himself.

Nobody dare to pass by that part of the village since the day the powerful clan was slaughtered. Now, Sakura was surprised by herself that she finally got the courage to go on this side of the village.

As far as she can remember, she had only set her feet to this ground twice. Once, when her mother was visiting a friend, she remembers that lovely lady with a long and silky ebony colored hair who smiled so gently at her.

The second was when she strayed to the wrong direction, trying to get away from the kids teasing her about her forehead. Back then, she was just a little girl who lost her way back home. For all one knows, too young and innocent to be aware that she was standing inside the Uchiha territory.

 _ **"Where are you going?" That was the question that Sakura asked after she found Sasuke preparing to leave the training grounds.**_

 _Not that she expect him to answer, but that is how their friendship works nowadays. She would ask him if she noticed that one of his all-too-familiar habits changed a bit and be contented by his two or three-worded response._

Even two years after the war, they don't have a definite term of their friendship nor figure out what is the level of their relationship.

 _"What are they to each other?"_

They would not even dare to ask that question and Sakura would not want to risk the relationship they have built after years of being apart.

' _What are we?'_ that question can wait. Maybe not today but probably someday.

The two of them does not define DATING as Sakura visiting him on his apartment to bring food and Sasuke walking her home every time her shift ends late than usual, in which Sasuke will always say that he was just _"Passing by"_ or _"the Hokage asked me to bring something to the hospital staff"_.

Those gestures have become part of their lives. It is the most unstated and unofficial understanding between them.

 _"We're just good friends."_ Sakura would normally answer when asked.

Nothing more, nothing less.

 _For her,_ _as long as they are both comfortable with each other's company, probably the relationship label would not even matter._

"To the Uch-" Sasuke halted in placing his weapon to his pouch as he seems to re-think the words he was about to say. Then hesitantly states, "Just around the village." Sakura caught the bitter look on his face when he said those words and that was a mistake on her part.

"Okay! See you later then! I'm running late for today" Sakura said and dash her way out.

She should just leave Sasuke alone this time. It was late too take the question back when she realized that today was the day his childhood was ruined.

The day he lost his family and the day he closed his door to the world.

 _Things can wait..._

* * *

"Would you want-" Before Sasuke could finish his words she was nowhere to be found.

Since that day he always wanted to be alone, to be invisible... he wanted to be the wind that you cannot see but you can always feel. He wanted them to know how much he was hurting but at the same time he doesn't want that sorrow to be visible.

This avenger would not want the world to think that he was weak. Not after everything that happened, his brother's sacrifice would not be put in vain just because of the petty emotion he was feeling.

But today was would he invite Sakura now?

 _Because it was Sakura.._. He heard a voice at the back of his mind in which he completely ignored.

He sighed and makes his way to the less traveled road since the Uchiha clan massacre.

* * *

 _Memoirs._

Sasuke was not the sentimental type of person but to his astonishment, he found himself opening a wooden box among the old things inside his former home.

Slowly, memories flooded his mind.

 **" _Nii-chan!"_**

 _ **"Sasuke-kun, eat slowly."**_

 _ **"Hn, you did well."**_

 _ **"You're holding the kunai the wrong way, Sasuke."**_

The box was a gateway to the happy childhood he had and for a second, he was not sure whether to throw it across the room or look through the _things he once had_.

Maybe just this one time he will let those happy memories run over his mind. For the things around him to see how vulnerable he was when it comes to the horror of his past.

"That's a cute dinosaur." A sudden voice echoed across the room.

Sasuke was not sure what surprises him more, that Sakura was standing unexpectedly in his childhood home or the fact that she found him inspecting these almost forgotten mementos of his youth.

"How did you know I'm here?" Sasuke asked as he started digging the things in the box that was supposed to be important to him, things in his early life that was spared from his tainted past.

His sense though is eager to turn and look her in the eyes, watch her thoughtful smile that seems to be dedicated only for him. He knows that the only thing that is keeping him to meet those expressive eyes was his **_fear_**.

The fear of drowning in those emerald eyes.

 _Those eyes that will keep his hopes up with all the endless possibilities he could dream of._

 _The possibilities of happiness that he is afraid to be taken away... once again._

Sakura laughs. To him, it sounds like the first bloom of the springtime and it was another thing that he needs to deal with.

"Well, aside from the fact that you almost said that you'll be here earlier..." she stopped, looking at him with utmost sincerity in her eyes. "I just know you will be here"

"I was about to leave, you shouldn't come here." He tried to sound disinterested with her presence.

"Sure, you will." Sakura responded mockingly."By the looks you were giving to that dinosaur it seems otherwise." that was the only thing he was waiting for to have an excuse to look at her.

"Oh! Don't give me that glare, Sasuke-kun." She said sweetly and move around the room, her curious eyes taking in the details of every corner within the room.

He studied an old folded paper before him and the way his messy, childish handwriting greeted him as he open it, no doubt his mind was brought to one particular time in his childhood.

 ** _'I'm too early' Sasuke thought, feeling excited at the same time that his brother agreed to train him for today._**

 ** _He heard the twigs breaking and he knew somebody is approaching Nii-chan! -_**

"What is this?" Sakura asked, cutting his mind's trip to his old musings.

Without a warning she grabs the paper from his hand that greatly alarmed Sasuke.

"It's none if your business." He said nonchalantly as he tried to get it back from her. Sakura was able to avoid his attempt as she moved outside the room.

"Sasuke-kun's three wishes!" She read it aloud, walking backwards. "Interesting."

 ** _No!_** As much as Sasuke would like to say it out loud, he could not. Sakura might just get the impression that the stupid paper was important to him. Crossing out the idea to chase her around with his chakra and ability- it is impossible without tearing the whole house apart.

* * *

This time she want it to be different, she don't have any intentions of getting the paper from him in the first place. But as she stood in that room, looking how he was in a pensive mood, she could not help but to find ways to make things better for him.

After all, she said:

 **" _If I could have taken all your pain…onto myself to comfort you, I would have…"_** It was declared in all honesty and pureness of her feelings towards him. This time she want it to be different, she decided to be with Sasuke even though it was against the bidding of her inner self.

 _What if he don't want to be with someone, you should just turn back and walk away from this compound._

Those words echoed through her mind while searching for Sasuke's signature chakra around the Uchiha district.

But here she is, running around the house like a kid around the playground, with Sasuke trailing behind her.

"Oh Sasuke you have an adorable handwriting" Now, Sakura was not sure if she really would do nothing about the paper. Seeing how his writing was, remembering him before the nightmare.

 **"One, to be strong like onii chan."** She said flashing a grin to Sasuke.

 _ **"Okaa-san, nii-chan taught me to throw a shuriken. I want to be like him!" little Sasuke said as her mother change his clothes.**_

 _ **"That's lovely." She smiles so sweetly.**_

 _ **"I wish I could be strong like him!"**_

 _ **"Of course you will Sasuke-kun."**_

 _ **"I wish I could be a ninja too" the persistent young boy said confidently/**_

 _ **"You have so many wishes. You should write that in a paper so you won't forget,**_ _ **okay?"**_

 _ **He nodded happily.**_

" **Two, to be a ninja,** okay that's great!" Sakura continued as she scans the paper, it was indeed delightful to see his handwriting when he was still a child.

 _ **"I want to protect those who can't defend themselves onii chan!"**_

 ** _"Then you should train harder, Otōto."_**

"And the third!" Somehow they end up at the small backyard garden and she held the paper forward to read it clearly, adjusting her hold to the sunlight to make sure she was seeing the words clearly. But then Sasuke was successful in getting back the paper this time

"Hey!" That was the only thing she was able to say as he slowly turn his back to her.

"Enough Sakura." It was said in his most serious tone of voice that Sakura just stood there and did not pursue any further. But it was not enough for her not to feel proud in seeing a hint of red in his face out of embarrassment.

 _Sasuke is blushing!_ Her inner self speak out.

It is rare and one in a million moment that Sasuke will feel that way, she doubt if the word 'embarrass' was even in his vocabulary.

Sasuke stopped halfway inside the house because for the first time since of-what-seems-to-be-like-an-eternity, laughter echoes through the walls of the ruined compound.

It was abandoned for so long that the laughter seems to have awakened the repressed joyful memoirs of the long gone residents, for a second there, who would have thought that the last thing that was heard by these walls were painful screams and agonizing pleas of its people during their last moment.

In an instant, he did not think twice of letting go of the long years of torment that this place left for him, he knows it is about time for him to start anew.

 _This time with lightheartedness…_

 _This time with someone…_

 _This time with Sakura._

* * *

 _Recurrent._

Sasuke patiently waited for Sakura to come out of the hospital, it is almost midnight and he could not help but to feel frustrated that most of the time she needs to extend her shift until the wee hours. Not that he do not trust her ninja skill, _who would dare to do something wicked to Tsunade's apprentice?!_ But he would not get a good sleep until he saw her walk inside her house safely and sleep soundly. He did not notice it until now, but it has slowly become a habit of his. To be honest, he ran out of explanations to tell her, he knows how silly his excuses were whenever Sakura would see him outside the hospital. _Waiting for her._

He cannot just tell her that her routine became all-too-familiar with him as day, weeks, months and years passed.

He could not admit to anyone that he always choose the long way back to his apartment as the day ends, because it is the only way he could check whether Sakura was already home or not.

He knows how his face frowns instantly whenever her lamp shade is turned off. Sasuke himself is aware that Sakura keep her lampshade on as she sleep, even though her best friend mocks her for wasting the light.

 _Perhaps, he knew her too well…_

His mind drifted to the scene that happened when Sakura joined him in visiting the _Uchiha Memorial. H_ e expected her to just wait for him until he stood up in front of his parents' grave. But he should have known better, _she is Sakura. From the start she was different._ Sasuke could not help but to admit that his heart made this little jump in joy, seeing her smiling and hearing her words spoken to his parents.

He could not help but to think- _If things were different what would become of us._

 ** _"I haven't met you Mikoto-san, Fugaku-san. But knowing Sasuke-kun here is willing to go all rogue all these years is enough to know that he loves you..."_**

Perhaps, instead of talking to the memorial stone, she will be sharing a dinner with his parents filled with laughter and stories _, if things were different._

 _ **"Don't worry. I only bring healthy foods to your son whenever I visit him…"**_

Perhaps, it will be her visiting him at his warm home instead of his apartment _, if things were different._

 _ **"I wish I could have met you…"**_

Perhaps, it should be the distinctive pink haired kunoichi...

 ** _"I wish you could have seen my pink hair as well…"_**

Wearing Uchiha emblem on her clothes...

 ** _"And I hope Itachi-san wouldn't get mad at me that I ask for Sasuke's stuff toy."_**

With child carefully cradled within the comforts of her arms, walking through the lively streets of Uchiha compound instead of her carrying the stupid green dinosaur through the ruined road.

 _If things were different._

* * *

 _Question._

It was after a four-hour surgery when Sakura decided to call it a day. She was aware that it is already past her working hours when she quietly exited the hospital. Fully familiar with the presence of a man leaning on a tree nearby was waiting for her.

 _Like he always does._

"So, what did the Hokage ask you to bring to the hospital this time?" She laughs inwardly, thinking in advance of what is reason he might give this time. Sasuke did not respond though, walking beside her as she reached him. There was a comfortable silence between them as they saunter off from her workplace, the only sound that can be heard were their strides and the rustles coming from the bag that Sakura leisurely held, refusing the silent motion that Sasuke did to hold it for her.

They stroll around the village a little longer than usual, it is a wonder that neither of them made an effort to turn to the corner going to Sakura's house. Both of them felt the need to be with each other... to stay with each other a little longer. The unspoken agreement between them was keeping them together.

"It's my day off, I don't take unnecessary mission during my off." Sasuke finally broke the silence, while Sakura gave him quizzical look. Smiling at him when she realized that he just answered her question earlier.

 _Because for once and right now he wanted to make a difference._

 _He is willing to take the risk of grabbing that one last string of happiness he could possibly have in his life..._

"I guess you were just passing by then that's why-"

"I waited for you, Sakura." He finally said with a hint of irritation on his voice.

"Oh!" she laughs. "How considerate of you..."

"I waited for almost two hours." he added looking at her intently as they stopped in one place overlooking the village.

"Now that's unusual." Sakura responded smiling.

"You know it is not the first time right?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow

Have the wind did not blew Sakura's pink locks in her face, he could have seen her faint smile that moment.

"Have you eaten your dinner? I bought some tomatoes before I went back to the hospital this afternoon" She started scrambling over the bag of grocery sitting idly at the ground.

 _Is she avoiding this thing?_ He asked himself getting a little impatient by the way she acts and feeling a little disappointed with himself in trying.

 _She probably does not remember..._

 _ **I should have known better.**_

 _After years of not reciprocating her affections, he should have expected that she might not do same again._

 _ **What are we then?**_ _He asked himself. The question that has been on his mind for the past months, each time he smell a brewing coffee in his waking moment._

 _The question he asked, whenever he heard her say 'good night' each time he had walked her home._

 _It was his question and he badly wants an answer, not from other people but from her._

* * *

 _Sakura look at the unfamiliar surroundings, there were shurikens embedded on the trees and she admires how it was neatly punctured_ _on its target, thinking that whoever did that must be an experienced ninja._

 _She saw a boy same age as her polishing some kunai_ _that made her stop on her tracks._

' _Finally, I got some help!' her mind concluded in joy._

 _"Nii-chan!"_

 _But her happiness quickly disappeared when the boy turn to look her way, visibly frowning as he realized that she was an outsider._

 _'He is probably same as the other kids in the academy'_

 _"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the boy asked rudely._

 _"Eeto...I'm lost" She replied. She felt nearly crying, the boy with eyes in shades of onyx studying her features._ _I should start running._

 _For seconds they stared at each other's eyes. With Sakura waiting for a taunt and the boy expecting a squeal from the unknown girl._

 _Feeling helpless she tried to move back but_ _the he suddenly stood up and looked at her sharply before letting out a sigh and started walking away. Sakura felt disheartened that he did not even bother to tell her how to get out of this place._

 _"Are you just going to stand there?" the boy looked back,_ _stopping just few feet away from her, hands in his pocket._

 _"Huh?" She asked confused._

 _"I don't have all day, I need to go back before nii-chan arrived so we could train..."_

* * *

"Here it is!" Sakura exclaimed as she extended her hand to give the thing she was getting from the bag before saying, "I've already wash it so you don't need to worry. It didn't fell on the ground either."

Hearing those words brings back the hope that he had been thinking all day- to give both of them a chance for the unknown feelings they have yet to acknowledge.

There were little flutters of butterflies inside his stomach when he saw her smile. That smile he loved the first time.

 _Sasuke saw her smile when she realized that he was going to help her._

 _He could not help but to feel amused, it was the first time seeing a stranger smile at him like that. Mostly, girls will stare at him and give those fake smiles to look good just to impress him. But hers..._

 _It was the most perfectly genuine smile he received... just like his mother's._

 _"Here!"_

 _He heard her say as they were about to part ways._

 _She was_ _extending her arms with a tomato._

 _'Is_ _she giving me the tomato' the little boy asked himself, he likes tomato but being offered by someone he barely knew was a strange gesture for him._

 _"Arigatou! Please accept this! This is the only way I can repay you." she said bowing her head._

 _"N-no that's fine. It's not that hard to get you outside of the compound."_

 _"I ran from the kids that are teasing me" for a moment she look sad "…and I didn't notice I was nowhere near the market anymore." she explained looking at the ground and the sad look in her eyes did not go unnoticed by the boy._

 _"That's fine, besides I need to wash the tomato before I eat it, what if it fell on the ground?" he reasoned out, feeling embarrass of taking the tomato._

 _She then laugh, move forward and place the tomato on his hand._

 _"Arigatou, ninja-kun. My okaa-san must be worried about me."_

 _And he watch her flowing pink hair sway with the wind as she run from him, wondering if he will ever see her again._

Instead of getting the tomato from Sakura, Sasuke held her free hand and intertwined it with his. Surprised with his gesture, she dropped the fruit and look at him eye-to-eye. The last time their hands intertwined was back when they were genin, the time he was suffering from the mark Orochimaru gave him.

She stood speechless as Sasuke pulled her in a hug and she felt a sudden familiar comfort, just like the comfort she felt walking side by side with the boy who has helped her out of the unfamiliar territory.

" **Three, to meet the girl with the pink hair again. She is different, I want to be strong as nii-san and be a ninja so I could protect her from those kids."** Sasuke said softy, his voice sounding muffled though as his face was buried to her hair, still it did not keep Sakura from understanding what he meant.

 _He remembers._

It was the three wishes that keep him motivated to get stronger until that night that it was forgotten and buried deeply above the soil of revenge for his clan.

Those three innocent wishes that were left behind Sasuke's past.

"So we meet again, ninja-kun." she let out a giggle but then was stopped when Sasuke captured her lips to his. It was a slow and sweet kiss, the mixture of hearty smell of mountain and the subtle sweet cherry scent draws both of them to deepen the kiss. For Sakura, it was like telling him how much she still love him and this time she hope he will do the same. She knew that Sasuke is giving her something special. More special than what they have now.

There are only two things she could do it's either to accept or to decline. Both options were too risky to do, because whatever her choice is...she knew, they would not be able revert back to the things they were used to be.

But she already know what to do…

 ** _"I wish I could give him love he thought he lost that night."_** _It was said in silence unlike the previous ones as both of them knelt in front of his parent's memorial._

 ** _"He loves you more than his life and the most important people to him-_**

 ** _More important than the honorary title a ninja can have..."_** _She smiled, fully aware that Sasuke was staring at her._

 _ **"That is why my feelings would not easily fade away, I will always love him and I will always take care of him. Because that is me, Sakura Haruno, it's really nice to meet all of you."**_

 _If she can just say those words out loud to him once, she hoped that would make him feel happy this time._

* * *

 _Relentless._

 **Sometimes he couldn't believe** that up to this moment Sakura will stick up with him, after all the things he'd done.

 _He didn't expect her to ask the judging committee alongside with Naruto and Kakashi for a lighter punishment for him..._

 _He didn't expect her to give him a warm welcome when he decided to reside back to Konoha..._

 _He didn't expect her to heal his wounds after every S-class missions he completed..._

 _He didn't expect her to have the same feelings for him after years of absence from their lives._

 ** _But she is Sakura._**

The only thing in his life that is constant, the one who gives him the courage and hope to take the chance of happiness in front of him. No matter how much he was hesitant to believe that there is still such thing for his existence, he would do so. _Because of her._

 **Sometimes he wonders** if he even deserve the admiration from the kunoichi. If he was really worth it of her attention and time. Nevertheless, he knows that he only want that affection from her. He knows that little by little she would understand- **_no_** , perhaps she understands that he is Sasuke, opening your emotions to others is not that easy when you were blinded by revenge your whole life.

"And I guess wishes do come true, right Sasuke-kun?" she whispered after their lips parted.

"I guess so..." He said handing a paper to Sakura.

Sasuke gestured her to open it, it was the same paper that contains those wishes he wrote when he was young. Scanning the paper Sakura notice small words at the very bottom that can be missed easily.

 ** _I'll be with her and we_** ** _will be together so no one can hurt her..._**

"Yes, it does." she smiled and she knew that accepting what Sasuke is giving her this moment is something that both of them believe is worth all the risk- the love that they've been caging behind the bars of their unspoken agreements.


End file.
